Running campaigns for legislative and local office based on a national or statewide or even regional level does not work unless you do it really really well. And no one has since 1994’s Contract With America.
American’s have the tendency to oversimplify politicial debates. Its not our fault, our nations history is filled with black and white (in the good v. evil, not the racial sense) conflicts. Either you were for or against independence or you sided with the North or the South in the civil war or you in the case of California you supported the Davis recall or not, etc.
But none of that translates into which candidate for state sentate you will choose. California voters are by no means homogenious, in fact, we are so remarkably different that not only will a framed message or theme fail to inspire a majority of voters to act locally, it is virtually impossible to deliver that message in the first place.
The relevance to today: it is probably a good thing for GOP candidates for local and legislative offices that there is no national or state Republican Agenda because we don’t have our act together.